Today in Phoenix, Tom Perez will share his vision of a DNC for every Democrat at the first of four DNC Future Forums. Tom is a proven leader who has spent his life standing up for progressive values, taking on tough fights and winning, and making real change happen at the local, statewide, and national levels.

Phoenix is a fitting location to launch the first forum about the future of the Democratic Party. The state was a bright spot on November 8, when Arizonans organized and won, maintaining Democratic seats in competitive districts, raising the minimum wage and expanding paid leave through a ballot initiative. And changing demographics make Arizona poised to turn blue in the years ahead.

And Tom is no stranger to tackling tough issues in Phoenix and across the country. He went toe-to-toe with former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio over his discriminatory law, SB1070. Tom fought him all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and won.

During the forum, Tom will highlight his experience as a proven fighter with a record of turning around complex organizations. From serving on the Montgomery County Council to growing one of the Mid-Atlantic’s largest immigrant services nonprofits to rebuilding the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice and leading the U.S. Department of Labor, Tom has time and again applied progressive values to rebuild organizations from the ground up. And that’s exactly what Tom will do to make the DNC an all-day, every day, year-round organization that supports state parties, expands the party’s big tent, and grows the Democratic Party from the grassroots up.

Tom’s record shows he has never hesitated to take on a fight – and he will continue to fight for progressive causes and Americans in every zip code as DNC chair.

Montgomery County

In 2002, Tom ran for a seat on the Montgomery County Council and won, becoming the first Latino elected to the Council and later served as its President.

Tom led an initiative to let Montgomery County residents buy cheaper prescription drugs.

Years before the housing crisis, Tom introduced and passed a bill to combat predatory lending and housing discrimination, a bill the Bush administration opposed.

Tom fought the immigrant “brain waste,” helping consolidate adult education and workforce development under Maryland’s Department of Labor to support programs focused on improving the language skills of immigrant professionals.

And Tom co-chaired Maryland’s Homeownership Preservation Task Force in 2007, calling for tougher mortgage laws, more outreach and emergency funds for families having a hard time keeping their homes.

CASA de Maryland

As Board President of Casa de Maryland, Tom grew the group, expanding it to an immigration advocacy organization.

Tom helped Casa improve the lives of immigrants by establishing services for day laborers and vocational training at community colleges.

Civil Rights

As a career attorney in the Justice Department, Tom prosecuted a gang of white supremacists in Texas who went on a shooting spree, trying to start a race war.

And Tom worked with Senator Kennedy to pass the Church Arson Prevention Act making destroying religious property because of race, color or ethnicity easier to prosecute as a federal crime.

While running the Office of Civil Rights at Health and Human Services, Tom worked to end racial and ethnic disparities in health care, including pursuing a case against a hospital segregating their maternity ward by race.

With Tom at the helm, the Civil Rights Division stood up against religious discrimination.

And Tom’s first congressional testimony after becoming Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights was supporting the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which outlawed discrimination in hiring on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Tom expanded the overtime rule, guaranteeing workers earning less than $47,476 had the right to be paid for their additional work.

He aggressively combatedworker misclassification, the unfair practice of classifying employees as independent contractors to cut costs and deprive them of wages and benefits. In 2016 alone, Labor collected $266 million in back pay owed to workers.

He raised the minimum wage and extended overtime protections for home health care workers, impacting nearly 2 million workers.

And Tom stood up for workers, issuing a rulerequiring companies to disclose how much they spend combating union organizing efforts.

Tom played a key role in ensuring companies with federal contracts pay their contract workers a minimum wage and provide paid sick leave.

With Tom’s leadership, the Labor Department issued a conflict of interest rule forcing retirement advisors to put their clients’ best interest ahead of their own, potentially saving Americans billions of dollars per year.